


Burden of Proof

by scullywolf



Category: Doctor Who (2005), The X-Files
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-03
Updated: 2015-01-03
Packaged: 2018-03-05 04:15:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3105305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scullywolf/pseuds/scullywolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mulder tries to convince Scully that the Doctor is real.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Burden of Proof

**Author's Note:**

> This ficlet was the result of an anonymous prompt on Tumblr.

“Come on, Mulder, really? A phone booth?”

“A _police box_. They originated here in the states actually, the first one going up in Albany, New York in 1877 and only shortly thereafter right here in DC, followed by Chicago, Detroit, Boston… They didn’t really catch on over here, but in Britain, they became something of a fixture, so much so that by the mid-20th century there were some 700 on the streets of London alone. They were slowly phased out as personal radios came into more widespread use, and now there are really only a handful left in operation today.”

“And somehow you think that this particular police box is _actually_ an alien spaceship?”

“Look at the photo, Scully. This is clearly a 1960s-era British design. So what is it doing in Manhattan in 1930? And look at the mark here on the door, this scratch? We see it again on this box, which I would argue is the _same_ box. Where and when do you think this photo was taken?”

“I don’t--”

“Dallas, 1963. Tourist photo taken four blocks away from where Kennedy was shot. And here it is again, just last month, in San Francisco."

"How can you possibly claim that is the same box? The resolution on this image is terrible."

"It's a still frame off a traffic camera, but here's the really interesting part -- December 29th, same camera, same view, no box. It shows up on the 30th, here, sticks around for a day and a half and is gone again by January 1st."

"And it hasn't occurred to you that someone might have been pulling a prank?"

"To what end? What would be the point of installing a British police box on a seemingly random street in San Francisco's Chinatown, only to tear it back down two days later?"

"Mulder, it's San Francisco. How many bizarre things do you suppose are done daily in the name of modern art?"

"And I'm not even getting into the Interpol records. I'm telling you, Scully, there have just been way too many sightings for it all to be coincidence."

"And aliens traveling through space in a very _terrestrial_ phone box seems like the most plausible explanation to you?"

"Well it's obviously supposed to be camouflaged. It's not _actually_ a police box. It's just been made to look like one. He tried to pick something he could land anywhere and just blend in. Which is pretty smart, or would be if he'd taken into account the fact that these things aren't exactly a dime a dozen anymore."

"He?"

"I only started looking into this when I came across this old file from a former agent named Delaware. It's been heavily redacted, but there is mention of a police box and a man only referred to as 'the Doctor.' I believe this 'Doctor' is actually a humanoid alien, or an alien capable of clouding the minds of his observers so that he as the _appearance_ of a human."

"Mulder..."

"We've seen this ability before, Scully. Psychic camouflage resulting from a military experiment. I’m betting the military learned something from this ‘Doctor’ and has been trying to replicate what he can do naturally.”

“Even if that were true, what would an alien even stand to gain by any of this? If this box or ship or whatever from 1930 is in fact the same one on the traffic camera, you’re talking about seventy years of, what, visits?”

“Oh, I think he’s been coming here far longer than that, actually. Though I don’t think it’s even as simple as visits in linear time.”

“You’re not saying…”

“I’m talking about a highly advanced spacecraft, piloted by an alien capable of active camouflage. I don’t think it’s _that_ much more of a stretch to suggest it might be able to travel in time as well.”

“...”

“Look, we don’t have anything else on our plate right now. What’s the harm in doing a little digging?”

“Well, I suppose as long as I get to see the look on Skinner’s face when you tell him you want to put out an APB on a phone booth--”

“Police box.”

“--I could stand to spend the afternoon doing a little research.”

A grinding, wheezing sort of noise slowly flared in the corner of the tiny office, accompanied by an inexplicable wind that blew papers and files all around. Mulder’s eyes widened, and Scully drew her weapon, backing toward the desk as the large, blue police box from the photos gradually appeared out of thin air. The noise grew until it culminated in a sort of a _thunk_ , and then all was silent. Mulder stood, reaching out to place his hand on Scully’s arm and press down gently until she lowered her gun. The door of the box opened, and a man with a long brown coat stepped out, looking at them with a smile on his face.

“Hello! I’m the Doctor.”

 


End file.
